Applications often contain multiple application modules. Distributed applications are deployed on multiple distributed physical machines. In other words, the various application modules are assigned to a particular machine in the distributed environment, and then the modules are installed and properly configured to operate on their corresponding assigned machine. As the distributed environment changes, the distributed application may be redeployed to maintain or improve performance.
Conventionally, such deployment or redeployment is commonly a manual process. For example, a distributed application may be associated with a text document that describes how and when to deploy and activate parts of an application and what to do when failures occur. An individual may then manually act as instructed in the text document to deploy (and redeploy) the distributed application.